Footwear.



0.1. RANSM.

FOOTWEAR.

APPLICATloN FILED 1uLY26, 1912.

Patented 0015. 15,1918.

LZSLEL CHARLES J. nANsoM, or New YORK, N. Y.

FOOTWEAR.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented oet. i5, iets.

To all whom, z't may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. RANsoM, a citizen of the United States,.and a resident of the city, county, York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Footwear, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to footwear and more particularly .to`means for holding the tongue of a shoe or Oxford .tie in place. In footwear such as in shoes and Oxford ties it is a common thing for the tongue to work out of place and to turn or twist to one side strings or leaving an open space under the lacing, and the displacement of the tongue to onelside of the center line causes uneven strains upon the shoe upper which tend to draw the shoe or tie out of shape. yVarious ways have been proposed for keeping the tongue in place or in line but they have not been entirely satisfactory.

The object of the present invention is to provideisimple and eflicient means for holding the tongue in vplace and which means will be free of objectionable features. In the preferred form of my invention the utilization of the tongue holding feature adds nothing totlie cost 0f the footwear as I utilize the usual elements of the footwear and the perforations in the tongue may be made at the time the tongue is cut out or blanked.

.In the present arrangement the shoe laces are utilized in av n-ovel manner and coperate with the tongue to hold 'the latter in place-to'lprevent .lateral dis- Aplacement thereof.

In the drawing plication, Y

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an Oxford tie showing the arrangement of the lace holesin the tongue,

Fig. 2 is asimilar view showing the lace in placeand about to be drawn taut and tied,

forming part of this apof the tie with the l'ace drawn and tied, and lFig'. 4 is a sectional view taken, on thev Inl the drawing I have .shown an ordinary Oxford tie,' the constituent parts of which are so well known that they require no detailed description herein. While I by that my invention is equally applicable to and lState of New Fig. '3 isa planview of the upperportion -eyelet `3. There is a Oxford tie such as are worn men nevertheless itisstopbe understood shown, crosses over herein shown,

side and as a lrow -4 of eyelets at'the oppoi site side, of the front opening. It is to be understood that the lace engaging-members may consist nf lacing hooks. The tongue 5 of the tie is shown stitched at its lower end `6 in .the usual manner, the remaining portion of the tongue preferably being freel or unattached to the upper of the tie. Ordinarily the upper portion of the tongue may twist or shift Yto one side of the central' position after the lace has been drawn and tied and the present invention relates tothe means fororeventing this twisting or shifting'.

In Fig. 1 I have shown the simplest form of means with which gaged for the purpose of holding the tongue in position, but I do not wish to be limited to this specific form'. I have shown 'an aperture 6 nearly in the middle line of the tongfue and in its upper portion, and this aperture may be formed by providing an eyelet in the'tongue as shown. There is another such aperture 7 nearer one side of the tongue and slightly higher up and this may bev mon way by crossing the opposite runs of the lace may be enthe lace to form an. X at each intersection.

Starting at 8 the lace' extends straight across between vthe lowermost eyelet 3 and the lowermost eyelet 4. One run 9 of the lace is then carried from the' lowermost eyelet 3 across the opening 2 and up through the second eyelet 4. The other run, 10, carried from the lowermost eyelet 4 across the opening 2 and up through the second cross or X formed at 11 where the opposite runs of the lace cross each other. This lacing peated in so far as the run concerned, until it is brought out through the topmost eyelet 4 at one side of the opening 2. The run 9 of the lace, however, after passing out through an eyelet 4, which may be the second from'the top on the run 10 of the lace operation is re 10 of the l'ace is;

11o one side, 'as y and it then passes ydown through the aper- -through the topmost eyelet 3. The lace may then be drawn taut and the ends tied, as shown-at 12 in Fig. 3. It will be noted that the aperture 6 is n ear and preferably just above one point of crossing of the opposite runs of the lace, and that the aperture 7 lies under or nearly under, the topmost eyelet 3 when thelace is drawn tight. The engagementl of the run 9 of the lace through the tongue causes the lace to holdthe tongue from shifting and it holds it in a central position. v If there should b e a tendency for the tongue to shift to the right in the drawing the movement of the tongue in this direction will be prevented by the lace. In such ease the tongue can not move to the right except by sliding on the run 9 of the lace but as this run'crosscs over the run '10 at the point 11 the tongue will be prevented from sliding along the run- 9. There is thus no way in which the tongue can move downwardly or to the right. If there is any strain tending to move thetongue to the left in the drawing the movement will be resisted because the run 9 of the lace where it passes through the menen The lace thus resists the shifting'of the upper portion of the tongue either to the right or left.

The arrangement' shown herein does not detract from'the appearance of the footwear and it is a veryconvenient matter to carry lthelace thro/ugh the apertures 6, 7.

. The cost, if any, of a plying my invention to foot-Wear is iiegligi le.

Having described my irvention, what I claim is: v Y

An article of foot Wear such as a shoe or tie', said shoe or tie having the usual front opening, lace holes or eyelets along the opposite edges of said openingto receive the lace, va lace having itsoppQsite runs `passed. in zig-zag form between said lace holes or eyelets so that said runs cross over said' opening, and a tongue having its lowerl end secured to said shoe or tie and arranged to underlie said opening, said tongue having an aperture adjacent the point of crossing of the runs of said lace and an aperture ad jacent one of said lace holes or eyelets of said shoe 'or vtie, the lace passing back through said first tongue aperture and forward through said second tongue aperture, between its engagement with lace holes or eyelets on opposite edges of the shoe or tie, whereby said lace will prevent displacement of said tongue.

Signed this 13th day of July, 1917.

CHARLES J. RANSOM. 

